Nothing changes for me because I'll still be working for the same place, but the interviewing has begun. And I just got my first callback interview!

what does that mean in English?

your going to be working during the school yr?

Yes, because I get my tuition waived if I do.

A callback interview means that I had one interview with the firm and they are asking me back to their offices (my first interview was at a job fair) to have a longer interview and meet more people. You get summer associate offers after callback interviews. Or maybe they're not called callback interviews everywhere, but that's what I call them.

Nothing changes for me because I'll still be working for the same place, but the interviewing has begun. And I just got my first callback interview!

what does that mean in English?

your going to be working during the school yr?

Yes, because I get my tuition waived if I do.

A callback interview means that I had one interview with the firm and they are asking me back to their offices (my first interview was at a job fair) to have a longer interview and meet more people. You get summer associate offers after callback interviews. Or maybe they're not called callback interviews everywhere, but that's what I call them.

LESSONS FROM A MOCK INTERVIEW WORKSHOP By: Chris Dunagan, J.D., Education and Career Coach Recently I had the privilege of interviewing second year (2L) and third year (3L) lawstudents participating in a mock interview workshop sponsored by the Law School OutreachCommittee of the Atlanta Bar Association. I was assigned to an interview panel with twodelightful senior associates, both of whom are active in the recruiting and interviewing efforts oftheir mid-size and large Atlanta law firms.1 The participating law students interviewed by mypanel were from top law schools in Georgia and represented a range of academic performance,including some in the top 10% of their class. Generally, I was impressed with the caliber ofinteresting people interviewed by our panel, but I was surprised by some of the “rookie”mistakes and the widespread lack of meaningful focus articulated by such highly accomplishedand motivated people. The following observations and comments are offered in the hope thatsomeone will find a nugget or two that will help land the job that is the right fit for them.2 You only get one chance to make a first impression. Lose the chewing gum. If youforget and pass the point of no return, swallow it. Do not, as one otherwise charming 2L did,push it to the roof of your mouth hoping the interviewers will not notice your artificially createdspeech impediment. We noticed. We also noticed an unkempt blouse collar and a sloppily tiedtie. You are applying for a job in a field where attention to detail is a way of life. You simplymust check in with the bathroom mirror before going in for the interview. Also, stick withtraditional, conservative interview fashion, at least until you get to know the firm. Relax. You want the prospective employer to feel comfortable putting you in front ofclients one day. Your best impression of a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs is not theimage you want to convey. Do not fidget and do not kick your chair or the underside of thetable. You may not realize how you appear to others. Take advantage of practice interviewworkshops and consider also video taping or audio taping mock interview sessions with friendsfor additional practice and feedback. If you tend to get nervous during interviews, here is a tip:it’s not about you. Work with me on this one – the interview is not about you. The interview isabout the employer’s challenges and whether you are the solution to those challenges. Since it’snot about you, you have nothing at all to be self-conscious or nervous about. Distinguish yourself by demonstrating your willingness to invest in your own future.Your preparation for a job interview says a lot about how you likely may approach clientmatters. At a minimum, research the firm website, Martindale Hubble and your favorite internetsearch engine. If you know who in particular will be conducting your interview, express anygenuine interest in their recent publications and otherwise look for common ground to establish aconnection. So, you want to be a labor and employment lawyer and you want this firm to bearthe cost of your learning the ropes? What have you done to prove yourself a good investment?What have you done to show initiative in this area of law that you claim interests you? How1 The author wishes to acknowledge, with appreciation and admiration, attorneys Trishanda L. Treadwell, with thelaw firm of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs, LLP, and Rahmah A. Abdulaleem, with the law firm of King &Spalding, LLP, for sharing the mock interview experience with him.2 While this article offers commentary about mock interviews of law students, most of the comments offered applyequally to any job interview environment.

many “informational interviews” have you had, or even requested, with practicing lawyers in thefield? How many relevant local bar association section events have you attended? (Yes, you canattend those, and you will find many lawyers who will be delighted for you to listen to what theyhave to say.) How many times have you called a practicing lawyer in a big firm, small firm, solopractice, corporation, non-profit association, or government agency, in a mix of transactional andlitigation practice areas, and said: “Hi, my name is Jane Smith. I am a law student trying tofigure out what area of law will best fit me. I am not asking or applying for a job, but I washoping you could spare 15 minutes to tell me about what you do and what it is really like in yourpractice area and environment.” How many times do you think interviewers hear the cannedresponse about wanting to clerk with a firm offering a wide variety of practice areas so you canfind the right area of practice? As a practical matter, you do not have time to experience everypractice area, and the experience you gain as a summer associate is, in most cases, a poorsubstitute for the real thing. If you invest in a significant number of informational interviewswith practicing lawyers from a variety of practice areas and environments, you will learn farmore than you will ever learn as a summer associate and you will handily distinguish yourselffrom your competition. (Incidentally, when conducting informational interviews, it is notenough to know that Joe Lawyer dislikes what he does and Jill Lawyer loves what she does.You have to ask why Joe and Jill feel the way they do and apply that to your own life. Forexample, maybe Joe is introverted and wishes he could spend more time alone writing briefsinstead of continually sitting in on client board meetings which he finds draining. Maybe Jill isextroverted and is energized by days filled with non-stop client contact. In the end, objectivedata about what Joe and Jill do is more valuable than subjective data about how Joe and Jill feelabout what they do because, in the same situation, you may feel differently than either of them.Your goal as an informational interviewer is to get a clear picture of the situation so you canmake your own judgments.) Anticipate the obvious. Come up with a list of questions you can expect to be askedbased on the information in your resume. Ask friends to help, and do the same for them. Forexample, if your resume reflects an interesting summer abroad rather than a summer associateposition, you will be asked questions about that. If you left a job as an engineer to go to lawschool, anticipate questions about that. Prepare a thoughtful response. (Forced to answer aquestion like that on the spot without prior thought, you risk saying something like, “As anengineer, I was too far removed from the end user of my work product to feel fulfilled and Ithink working as a lawyer in a big firm will be more fulfilling in that regard.”) If you are askedabout your fluency in Spanish, French, Italian or whatever language you speak, don’t say, “yes, Iam fluent.” Instead, say something meaningful in the applicable language and then translate it toEnglish if necessary. If you list your hobby of singing in a traveling vocal group, don’t be toobashful to belt out a bar or two if asked. If you had a summer associate position last summer, beprepared for the inevitable: Did you get an offer to come back? If you clerked for a small firmor sole practitioner, do NOT shy away from the fact that the firm does not have enough work toabsorb you as an associate. Every practicing lawyer understands that issue. Be focused. Be a meaningful specific rather than a wandering generality. When askedwhy you went to law school or what you want to do with your law degree, do not, in the samebreath, say you have a social conscience and want to be an instrument of social change and helppeople by representing large corporations to make sure their rights are protected. Do not profess

your concerns about quality of life issues in the first interview. There will be time for that later,and if the firm is known for its lifestyle qualities, they will let you know. (Caveat emptor: onelawyer’s lifestyle firm is another lawyer’s sweatshop. However, the first interview is not thetime to sort out those issues). An interest in pro bono is fine, but realize that is not how lawfirms make money. No one expects you to know at this stage of the game that you want to be anestate planning lawyer with a focus on special needs trusts, or that your passion is representinggovernment contractors in some obscure area of regulatory compliance. However, you should beable to articulate some focus about who you are and what you are about. Ideally, you should alsobe able to offer some ideas about how to translate that focus into one or more potential areas ofpractice and explain, based on your extensive informational interviewing, why you think thoseareas of practice may be a good fit for you. Be prepared to ask good questions. You are not begging for a job. You are looking forthe right fit. You have something of value to offer. That bears repeating: you have somethingof value to offer, unique and distinct from anyone else. The only way to determine if thisparticular employer is the right fit for both of you is for you to ask good questions. Havestandard questions prepared in advance, and adapt them on the fly based on information youlearn during the interview. Be a real person. Most likely, your academic credentials are good enough for theemployer interviewing you or you would not have gotten the interview. Now the interviewerwants to know whether you are an enjoyable person to spend time with and whether they can putyou in front of clients without embarrassing the firm. If you tend to be quiet and shy, practicebalancing that natural tendency with some confidence and respectful assertiveness. If you tendto be stand-offish, practice being warm and engaging. If you tend to ramble on, practice beingconcise and to the point. Know that, especially in the big firms, the first cut in the interviewprocess may be made by socially outgoing associates who, at least in part, may be looking forsomeone interesting to go to lunch with. Include an “Interests” section at the bottom of yourresume and know that many of the battle-hardened gatekeepers will look at that section first. Donot be afraid to be yourself. In most cases, your unusual hobby probably is not as weird as youthink, but when in doubt about what to include or how to describe it, ask some trusted friends oryour school career office for a second opinion. Your law school resume must be one page and flawless. If you wrote a long list ofinteresting articles during your prior life as a medical researcher, refer to the articles in one lineon the resume and carry a separate list of the articles with you to distribute if there is interest.Meticulously proof your resume, and ask other people to proof it for you. There must be notypos. Beware of offering too much detail. The ideal resume clearly conveys something aboutthe essence of who you are from a very, very fast scan. Pay attention to people and things. Do you know the names of the administrativeassistant who set up your interview and the receptionist who greeted you upon your arrival at thefirm? Did you notice the unusual artwork or memento on display in the firm reception area?The associates at the firm probably won’t ask you about those things, but some of the partnersmight.